Cobbosseecontee Watershed, Maine. Fish History, Water Quality, Hydrology and Aquatic Restoration Overview -- WORKING DRAFT 2/1/

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1 Cobbosseecontee Watershed, Maine. Fish History, Water Quality, Hydrology and Aquatic Restoration Overview -- WORKIG DRAFT 2/1/ Prepared by Douglas H. Watts for Kennebec Reborn, Inc. ovember,

2 Executive Summary: Dammed at its head of tide in 1761, Cobbosseecontee Stream is the largest coastal watershed in Maine which still remains impassable to native migratory fsh. A tributary of upper Merrymeeting Bay, the Cobbosseecontee watershed includes the communities of Gardiner, West Gardiner, Litchfeld, Richmond, Winthrop, Manchester, Monmouth, Readfeld and Hallowell. It contains 20.3 square miles of lakes and ponds, the largest being Cobbosseecontee (Gumscook), Maranacook and Annabessacook. Working from , a consortium of local citizens, citizen conservation groups, and state and federal agencies secured $125,000 in funding for the necessary engineering studies, legal permits and construction contracts to breach and remove the frst dam on the watershed, the 180-year-old Gardiner Paperboard dam in downtown Gardiner, Maine.1 After the hired contractor failed to perform the dam removal project in autumn 2004, the dam and adjoining property were subsequently sold to several entities, the most recent of which has declined interest in re-inititiating the dam removal project. Options available for securing passage for native fsh on Cobbosseecontee Stream include cooperative public/private efforts by willing dam owners to provide fsh passage; invocation of the State of Maine's fshway law; and use of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) for endangered anadromous Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) native to the watershed. In 2011, Kennebec Reborn, Inc., a non-proft Maine corporation, asked Douglas H. Watts, the project leader for the 2004 Gardiner Paperboard dam removal project, to compile for all interested parties an historic and scientifc baseline of information regarding the condition of the aquatic resources of the watershed. This report relies on publicly available documents from a wide variety of sources dating from the mid 1700s to the present. Included also are photographs and direct observations collected by Mr. Watts from Cobbosseecontee Stream from 1994 to present. The purpose of this Report is to provide all stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the natural and cultural history of the watershed to guide and inform decisions regarding its future dam removal consortium members included Maine Dept. of Marine Resources, Maine Atlantic Salmon Authority, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, ational Marine Fisheries Service, USFWS/MFS Gulf of Maine Project, Atlantic Salmon Federation, Trout Unlimited, ewark Paper Group, Inc. Regulatory entities supporting and approving the project included Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, City of Gardiner, Maine, State of Maine Historic Preservation Commission. 2

3 This December 2011 image shows Cobbosseecontee Stream in downtown Gardiner, Maine approx. 1 mile above its confuence with the Kennebec River. There used to be four stone dams below the Gardiner Paperboard Dam, called Dam o. 1, o. 2, o. 3 and o. 4. These dams breached in the early 20th century and are now reduced to stone abutments along the river channel. The Gardiner Paperboard Dam (Dam o. 5) is now the lowermost dam on Cobbosseecontee Stream. The next dam is the American Tissue Dam, the only hydro-electric dam on the stream. About 1/4 mile above the American Tissue Dam (around the corner in the upper part of the photo) is the ew Mills Dam, which is non-hydro and owned by the City of Gardiner and the towns of Litchfeld, Richmond and West Gardiner. Photo by Ed Friedman, Point of View Helicopter Service, Bowdoinham, Maine. 3

4 Cobbosseecontee Watershed Description The Cobbosseecontee watershed is approx. 217 square miles in area. It contains three ponds greater than 1,000 acres, 16 greater than 100 acres, and 24 greater than 10 acres (Table 1). Approx. 10 percent of the watershed is occupied by lakes and ponds. The principal river in the watershed is Cobbosseecontee Stream, which begins at the outlet of Cobbosseecontee Lake in Manchester, fows for approx. 20 miles in a "U" shape and enters the Kennebec River at Gardiner, Maine. The topography of the watershed is mostly rolling, low elevation hills and valleys, with the highest relief in the northwestern section (Readfeld, Monmouth), and the lowest relief in the southeastern section (West Gardiner, Richmond). Water fow is generally from northwest to southeast, except for the southernmost portion, where water fows abruptly northeast from a topographical low near the outlet of Pleasant Pond to a short and abrupt drop in downtown Gardiner. The confguration of surface lakes, ponds and streams in the watershed suggest a young, glacially deranged system controlled by a northeasterly trending Paleozoic bedrock fabric. 4

5 A bedrock map overlay of the Cobbosseecontee watershed shows a close correlation between lake and pond location and the northeasterly trend of Paleozoic thrust faults and folded beds of highly erodable limestone within the late Silurian Central Maine Sequence. Map key: green = Sangerville formation, red = Vassalboro formation, grey = Waterville formation, purple = Mayfower Hill formation, cross-hatch = ehumkeag Pond formation, black = sulfdic and/or impure marble sections of Waterville Formation. ellow areas are Devonian to Permian granitic plutons. Map adapted from Marvinney, West, Grover and Berry in EIGC (2010). 5

6 Table I: Major Lakes and Ponds of the Cobbosseecontee Watershed Lake Acreage Mean/Max Depth (ft.) Cobbosseecontee Lake 5,238 acres 37/100 Maranacook Lake 1,844 acres 30/128 Annabessacook Lake 1,415 acres 21/49 Pleasant Pond 800 acres 10/26 Torsey Pond 679 acres 15/45 Woodbury Pond 513 acres 21/62 Cochnewagon Lake 394 acres 22/28 Dexter/Berry Ponds 288 acres 13/25 Sand Pond 279 acres 31/82 Upper arrows Pond 239 acres 25/54 Lower arrows Pond 223 acres 31/106 Carlton Pond 223 acres 25/57 Hutchinson Pond 105 acres 10/24 Jimmie Pond 99 acres 34/75 Little Cobbossee 91 acres 17/33 Horseshoe Pond 74 acres 10/10 Total 13,092 acres Source: Maine DEP at Primary bedrock types in the watershed are Silurian marine sand and mud sediments that were deeply buried, intensely folded and metamorphosed into granofels, schists and impure marble during the Devonian. Several medium to large intrusions of fne-grained Devonian granite ('Hallowell Granite') form the eastern edge of the watershed. All bedrock younger than Devonian has been scoured away. The broad and fat topographic low in Litchfeld at the "Horseshoe Pond" section of Cobbosseecontee Stream is the result of glacial scouring of a unique nepheline syenite pluton that can only be observed via glacial erratics, ie. 'Litchfeldite,' scattered nearby (Marvinney et al. 2010; West and Ellenberger 2010; Barker 1965; Bayley 1892). The topography and controlling hydrologic features of the Cobbosseecontee 6

7 watershed represent the long-term erosional fattening of the Paleozoic bedrock of Central Maine into an extensive peneplain which was deeply incised by the channel of the Kennebec River much later. This topography is diagnostic of the lower Kennebec River valley from Waterville to Richmond, where tributary streams have little or no gradient until 1-2 miles before they reach the Kennebec and then suddenly plunge 100 feet or more down to the river in the span of a mile, e.g. Town Farm Brook, Sidney; Goff Brook, Sidney; Seven Mile Stream, Vassalboro; Riggs Brook, Augusta; Fisher Brook, Augusta; Whitney Brook, Augusta; Bond Brook, Augusta; Vaughan Brook, Hallowell; Worromontogus Stream, Randolph; Eastern River, Pittston. Hydrology: atural v. Present Day The Cobbosseecontee watershed is today deranged in both a geological and anthropomorphic sense. In the geologic sense the watershed is dominated by numerous natural lakes and ponds connected by short sections of streams; in the anthropomorphic sense those few sections of natural stream between the lakes and ponds are now almost wholly dammed and impounded. The natural lakes and ponds are elevated above their natural height by dams; the stream thoroughfares connecting them are impounded and fooded; and the natural wetlands around the lakes and streams are unnaturally elevated. While there is just as much water in the Cobbossee watershed today compared to the 18th century, the aquatic species which depend on this water cannot get from one part of the watershed to the other when they need to. This is called watershed disconnectivity. Watershed connectivity is a key parameter of watershed health. Cobbosseecontee is a type example of a watershed which was naturally highly interconnected and has in historic times become extremely fragmented. Watershed fragmentation, even at minor (100 yard) scales, can have profound impacts on aquatic ecology, species diversity and richness. Fragmentation in the Cobbosseecontee watershed, due to 19th century and ongoing anthropogenic impacts, occurs at the small, medium, large and regional scales. The Cobbossee watershed is completely cut-off from communication with the Kennebec River; and each successively smaller segment of the watershed is cut-off from communication with the segment above and below. In 2009, the Maine State Planning Offce, Maine Stream Connectivity Work Group, stated: "Centuries of land and water resource development in Maine, while supporting historical economic and social goals, have impaired chemical, physical, and biological linkages within and among Maine s estuaries, streams, lakes, and other aquatic systems. A notable source of this impairment is the loss of in-stream, or longitudinal connectivity. Construction of dams and road crossings that were not designed with ecological needs in 7

8 mind limit connectivity by blocking access to habitat that is critical to the survival of Atlantic salmon, alewife, native brook trout, freshwater mussels and other organisms requiring unimpeded movements throughout watersheds during some or all of their life cycle. Along with ecological impacts, impaired connectivity also has considerable economic and social costs, including the loss of income and jobs historically supported by thriving commercial and recreational fsheries. Likewise, the population-suppressing effects of lost connectivity on certain riverine species has led to increasingly restrictive, costly and complex environmental regulatory processes created to protect these imperiled organisms from further harm." 2 Cobbosseecontee Stream drops approx. 125 vertical feet in less than two miles in downtown Gardiner to its mouth with the Kennebec. 3 The 18 miles of stream above Gardiner is fat, wide and sinuous with large expanses of open, seasonally wetted meadow. The late 1800s construction of the ew Mills Dam in Gardiner raised the natural stream level at the dam by approx. 11 feet and the impounding effect of the ew Mills dam is observable for more than 12 miles upstream to a set of rapids below the Collins Mills Dam in West Gardiner. This indicates that the natural gradient of the stream from Collins Mills to downtown Gardiner, ie about 80 percent of the stream's length, was originally less than one foot per mile. Aerial photographs near and above the "Horseshoe Pond" segment of the stream in Litchfeld and West Gardiner show the submerged contours of the original channel several feet below the contemporary water surface. The stream's natural topographic character is quite similar to that of the Sebasticook River between ewport and Benton Falls, ie. long and nearly still 'deadwater' areas separated by short reaches of 1-2 foot vertical drops over glacially formed lag boulder deposits. This topography is confrmed by 1700s and 1800s historic records, which contain no mention of any mill dam sites or privileges on the stream between Collins Mills and ew Mills. The two most substantial artifcial alterations to the hydrology of the Cobbossecontee watershed occurred in the late 1800s with the construction of the ew Mills Dam in Gardiner and the outlet dam at Cobbosseecontee Lake. According to an October 28, 1882 article in the Kennebec Reporter, the Cobbosseecontee Stream dam owners formed in 1879 an organization called the "Gardiner Water Power Company" to secure greater water storage and reliable stream fows at the various ponds and lakes that feed into Cobbosseecontee Stream. The article states: 2 Sourced at: 3 Historic records show that Cobbossee Stream had a large cove at its confluence with the Kennebec with tidal influence extending up to the Rt. 201 bridge (much like what still exists at Togus Stream in Randolph). In the early 20th century, the cove was in-filled with demolition debris creating the Gardiner municipal parking lot on the south side of the stream and the Hannaford supermarket parking lot on the north side of the stream. The channel of Cobbosseecontee Stream below the Rt. 201 bridge is artificial and made primarily of in-filled demolition debris and glacial till. 8

9 "Until within three years, the power has been unreliable in the summer months. The mills had to shut down, more or less of the time in July and August, on account of a water shortage. The saw mills were run by turns. The day and night were divided into sections of so many hours, each, and one of these was assigned to each mill. This sort of thing has been obviated by the company's purchases of increased fowage rights and raising the reservoir dam. The company purchased a few weeks ago, at an expense of $12,000 the Whitman mill privilege, on Anabessacook Pond, in Winthrop, for the sake of fowage right. The company now owns seven ponds for storage uses as follows: Pleasant Pond, three Purgatory ponds, Great Pond, Anabessacook Pond and Horseshoe Pond. There is an unfailing supply of water, every dry season in the year." Table III: Cobbossee Watershed Selected Lake and Impoundment Elevations (present day) Maranacook Lake Tacoma Lakes Jimmie Pond arrows Ponds Annabessacook Lake Hutchinson Pond Cobbosseecontee Lake Collins Mills impoundment Horseshoe/Pleasant Pond Amer. Tissue dam impoundment Confuence w/kennebec River 211 msl 175 msl 173 msl 172 msl 171 msl 169 msl 166 msl 142 msl 135 msl 125 msl tidal Water Quality In his 1925 History of Winthrop, Everett Stackpole reviewed the late 1700s efforts by earliest citizens of the Town of Winthrop to secure fsh passage for alewives at the Gardiner dams, and wrote: "Had the people foreseen the sawdust and chemicals now poured annually into the running waters of Maine, they might not have contested so long for fshways." Eighty years later, William Monagle wrote: "Restoring a severely degraded lake, particularly after decades of abuse, requires signifcant resources, dedication and cooperation among all stakeholders, and, of course patience and perseverance. It has been said, in fact, that it may take as much time to rehabilitate a lake impacted by human related activities as it took to degrade it in the frst place. That certainly seems to have been the case with 5,238 acre Cobbosseecontee Lake... The frst documented report of the severe algae blooms in lakes of the 9

10 Cobbosseecontee Stream watershed occurred in 1939 in Annabessacook Lake, which had been on the receiving end of municipal and industrial discharges since the early 1900s. The algal blooms were so severe that a local resident reminisced that one could visit the shore of Annabessacook Lake on a calm morning in the 1950s, write one's name in the algal surface scum, and return that afternoon and fnd it still legible." Dennis (1982) and Monagle (2007) review the history of severe water pollution in the Cobbosseecontee watershed during the 20th century, primarily from the long-term direct discharge of municipal and industrial pollutants into Annabessacook Lake and heavy phosphorus and nitrogen inputs from cow manure spread at nearby farms. These historic discharges also intensely affected Cobbosseecontee Lake and Pleasant Pond, which lie directly downstream from Annabessacook. The legislature's creation of the Cobbossee Watershed District in 1971, the only district of its kind in Maine, was intended to identify and eliminate historic and ongoing water quality threats throughout the watershed. Secchi disk readings for Annabessacook Lake, Winthrop, Data from Cobbossee Watershed District (Monagle 2007). With the cessation of direct discharge of pollutants to the watershed in the 1970s, the CWD's focus shifted to controlling non-point source pollution inputs emanating from area farms and lakefront residential development. Long-term monitoring of water quality by the CWD has shown substantial improvement from 1960s conditions at Annabessacook Lake. Recent (2009) CWD data shows Cobbosseecontee and Anabessacook Lakes and Cochnewagon, Wilson, Woodbury and Torsey Ponds remain 10

11 profoundly debilitated by past and ongoing cultural pollution, as shown below: Table IV: Late Summer Thermocline and Dissolved Oxygen Depths at Cobbosseecontee Watershed Lakes and Ponds Lake Mean/Max Depth Depth of DO Depletion Depth of Thermocline* Deepwater Habitat** Maranacook Lake 30/ ~ ft. Lower arrows Pond 31/ ~ ft. Jimmie Pond 34/75 60 ~ ft. Sand Pond 31/ ~ ft. Upper arrows Pond 25/54 30 ~ ft. Carlton Pond 25/ ~ ft. Cochnewagon Lake 22/ ~20 0 Annabessacook Lake 21/ ~27 0 Cobbosseecontee Lake 37/ ~30 0 Wilson Pond 23/42 20 ~20 0 Woodbury Pond 21/ ~18 0 Torsey Pond 15/ ~18 0 otes: * Depth at thermocline is where water temperature profles show a sharp (~5 F) change. ** Deepwater habitat is defned as below the late summer thermocline and above the depth of dissolved oxygen depletion. A score of zero means the depth of dissolved oxygen depletion is near, at or above the observed thermocline in the same profle. Source: CWD, Maine VLMP (2011). The above table shows a clear distinction in the lakes and ponds in the Cobbosseecontee watershed. The frst group (Maranacook, Sand, Upper and Lower arrows, Jimmie and Carlton Ponds) have high to moderate late summer dissolved oxygen levels at and below the thermocline. The second group are noticeably devoid of dissolved oxygen below the late summer thermocline. In Group Two lakes the correlation between depth of thermocline and the onset of anoxic conditions are so close they can be used as a proxy for one another. Of note is that the depth of the late summer thermocline of the 12 lakes roughly correlates with surface acreage, with the more sheltered and smaller headwater ponds having a shallower thermocline than the larger, more wind-swept lakes. In contrast, no 11

12 positive correlation exists between late summer thermocline depth and mean and maximum pond depth. These data are disturbing since they show that half of the 12 major lakes and ponds in the Cobbosseee watershed are virtually anoxic below the late summer thermocline. This difference is most profoundly seen at Maranacook and Cobbosseecontee Lakes. They are the two largest lakes in the watershed and are about 100 feet deep (Cobb max. = 100 ft.; Maranacook max. = 128 feet). Both have similar late summer thermocline depths: feet. Late summer oxygen depletion at Maranacook does not start until 100 ft, ie. 75 feet below the late summer thermocline. At Cobbosseecontee Lake, DO levels drop to near zero at the thermocline; in late summer the entire lake volume below 30 feet deep is virtually anoxic. The severe DO depletions at Annabessacook and Cobbossee Lakes are consistent with their history of recent (20th century) pollution. However, an equally troubling situation is seen at three ponds which lack such a documented historic period of severe cultural pollution, ie. Torsey Pond, Woodbury Pond and Wilson Pond. In all three, DO levels consistently drop to near zero just below the late summer thermocline, just as they do at Annabessacook and Cobboseecontee. Woodbury Pond is a unique outlier in that it has a similar mean, max. and late summer thermocline depth as its next door neighbor, Sand Pond: (62 vs. 82 feet max. depth; 21 vs. 31 ft. mean depth). But at Woodbury Pond dissolved oxygen depletion begins almost exactly at the late summer thermocline (~20 feet), while at Sand Pond dissolved oxygen levels are quite high (above 5 ppm) all the way down to 55 feet, ie. 35 feet below its late summer thermocline. Differences between Jimmie (Jamies) Pond in Hallowell and Carlton Pond in East Winthrop are interesting because both ponds have been highly protected public water supplies for much of the 20th century. Carlton Pond has twice the surface acreage as Jimmy Pond (223 v. 99 acres); is shallower by mean and max. depths (25/35 vs. 57/75); and both have very shallow (12-15 ft.) late summer thermoclines. But at Jimmie Pond the hypolimnion is well-oxygenated in late summer almost down to its bottom (~60 feet) while at Carlton Pond the hypolimnion becomes oxygen depleted at 27 feet. Cochnewagon Pond in Monmouth is perhaps the most useful index lake to assess the impacts of cultural eutrophication in the Cobbossee watershed. The mean and maximum depths at Cochnewagon are nearly identical (24 ft. vs. 28 feet). It is 'fatbottomed' -- like a baking tin. At 28 feet max. depth and 394 surface acres, 12

13 Cochnewagon is the shallowest of the natural ponds in the Cobbossee watershed larger than 100 acres. The next shallowest ponds are Torsey Pond at 45 feet deep and Annabessacook at 49 feet. But we know from Atkins & Foster (1867) that despite its very shallow depth, Cochnewagon hosted a native population of rainbow smelt which spawned in its tributaries. Like Annabessacook and Cobbosseecontee, Cochnewagon has been subjected to severe pollution in the 20th century. Cochnewagon and Annabessacook are the only two ponds in the watershed which have been treated with alum (aluminum sulphate) to sequester anthropogenic phosphorus in their bottom sediments. Despite an alum treatment to the lake in 1986, CWD data show a steady decline in mean water clarity since 1992, with Secchi clarity approx. 2 meters less than in the early 1990s and the period showing the lowest clarity measurements as yet recorded. Water quality data at depth in the Cobbossee watershed lakes and ponds show a disturbing division between lakes which have dissolved oxygen below their thermoclines in late summer and those which have none. This difference suggests a cultural cause, since there is no natural reason why adjacent and interconnected ponds of similar depth and size (ie. Maranacook and Cobbossee; Sand Pond and Woodbury Pond) should have such wildly divergent DO levels below their respective late summer thermoclines. Water Flow, Level and Quantity Under Maine Private & Special Laws, Ch. 95, sects. 2 and 14 (1971), the Cobbossee Watershed District is authorized to establish a water level policy at dams in the Cobbosseee watershed upstream from, and including, the ew Mills Dam in Gardiner. The CWD water level policy was made effective on Jan. 1, 1981 and amended July 17, It establishes seasonal maximum and minimum water levels for eight dams during spring, summer, fall and winter based on elevations obtained from the 1929 ational Geodetic Vertical datum. The four level periods are Spring (March 1 to May 31); Summer (June 1 to Sept. 14); Autumn (Sept. 15 to Oct. 13); Winter (ov. 1 to Feb. 29). Spring maximum is based on the 10-year USGS food elevation. Allowable 12month water level variation from seasonal min. to max. is generally 2-3 feet. The CWD water level policy contains no criteria for minimum fows in streams affected by dams in the watershed, in part because its targets are based on seasonal impoundment water level targets, ie. the amount of water above the dam, not the amount fowing over or through it into the stream below. The only in-stream fow regulation in the watershed exists at the American Tissue hydroelectric project in downtown Gardiner, which has a minimum instantaneous fow requirement of 51 cfs or infow to the dam, whichever is less. Up until the early 2000s, dramatic reductions in 13

14 streamfow in the free-fowing section of the stream in Gardiner were seasonally commonplace (Lewis Flagg, MDMR, pers. comm. 1997), and caused the dessication of the eggs of native Atlantic salmon, white sucker and blueback herring. The legally required minimum fow at the American Tissue Dam is approx. 50 percent lower than the USFWS recommended aquatic base fow of 0.5 cfs per square mile of watershed area for ortheast U.S. watersheds. At Gardiner, this ABF fow would be approx. 100 cfs. Due to the size of its lake, the Cobbossee Lake outlet dam is the primary vehicle used by CWD to manage fows in the watershed, esp. in Cobbosseecontee Stream and Pleasant Pond. Abrupt reductions in outfow at the Outlet Dam are common in the late spring, when the CWD policy shifts from a 'spring' to 'summer' outfow mode. If the transition from spring and summer modes is done quickly, in-stream fows can drop by 50 percent or more in several days, resulting in the sudden de-watering of free-fowing areas downstream. At present the CWD has no explicit written policy calling for the gradual down-ramping of outlet fow/releases to allow aquatic life to make a safe transition to lower stream fows. Table II: Dams managed by CWD for water level control Dam Waterbodies affected Owner Torsey Pond dam Torsey Pond Torsey Pond Assoc. Wilson Pond dam Berry, Dexter, Wilson Ponds Tex-Tech Industries Cochnewagon dam Cochnewagon Pond Town of Monmouth Maranacook Lake dam Maranacook Lake Carleton Woolen Mills Martin Hovey dam Annabessacook Lake Town of Monmouth Cobbossee Outlet dam Cobbossee & Little Cobbossee Lakes Town of Manchester Tacoma Lakes dams Jimmy, Buker, Sand, Woodbury, Little Purgatory Ponds Tacoma Lakes Imp. Assoc. ew Mills dam Pleasant Pond, Cobbossee Stream Four-Town Consortium 14

15 Aboriginal (ative) Fish Species Assemblage The native fsh species assemblage of the Cobbosseecontee and adjacent watersheds is the end result of the Wisconsinan glaciation and de-glaciation. ot only did the most recent (and previous) glacial epochs shape the drainage patterns of the region by scouring out lakes and re-arranging the direction of stream and river systems, they prevented the long-term survival of fsh and aquatic fauna in these waters. During de-glaciation, the continental crust of Maine was depressed well below modern day sea level. As the ice sheet retreated northward, the ocean met it at the glacial margin, resulting in the Atlantic Ocean intruding into Maine up to 420 feet above contemporary sea level, ie. to Bingham, Maine in the upper Kennebec River valley. The marine intrusion maxima occurred approx. 13,000 B.P. and is marked by extensive marine clay and silt deposits (Presumpscot Formation) and deltaic features along the state's major river valleys. Emergence of the modern coastline occurred by 11,500 B.P followed by sharp drop in relative sea level as crustal rebound increased faster than eustatic sea level rise to a low-stand at approx. 10,500 B.P. where sea-level was as much as 60 m below current levels. After 9,000 B.P, sea-level climbed again to a 'present' stand by approx. 5-6,000 B.P. and the coast of Maine started to approximate what it resembles today. Figure on left shows post-glacial sea level change in Maine relative to current sea level. Figure on right shows maximum extent of post-glacial marine introgression in Maine, approx. 13,000 B.P. Source: Maine Geological Survey, modifed from Dickson (2005). This glacial activity destroyed previous existing freshwater fauna in Maine and forced the repatriation of newly exposed, deglaciated inland waters by whatever fsh species could gain access to them and survive in them. The frst fsh to inhabit these cold 15

16 waters were marine, followed by the diadromous species, ie. those that could tolerate freshwater and saline conditions. As marine coves and embayments were uplifted and became freshwater, the truly marine species had to leave, leaving those fsh species which could seasonally or wholly adapt to freshwater conditions. One puzzle is how truly freshwater species, such as the ubiquitous native white sucker, colonized the inland waters of Maine so extensively. At sea-level lowstand, the large shallow bars of Georges and Browns Banks limited the fow of oceanic waters into the Gulf of Maine, resulting in a lower salinity nearshore coastline than today. Bourque and Weddle (1995) give this as an explanation for the common presence of oysters (Crassostrea virginica) along the Maine coast in the mid-holocene and their later restriction to a few sheltered, low salinity estuaries, particularly the upper Damariscotta River in ewcastle, where they continued to be abundant until 1,000 B.P. Under this model, the warmer and less saline nearshore environment allowed a narrow but usable entryway for those native fsh species which are intolerant to marine conditions. Archaeological evidence for this Early to Mid Archaic period is rare due in part to the fact that the coastline of Maine at the time was many miles further south of its present location and coastal habitation sites along the 'old' Maine coast are now submerged by 30 feet or more of water (ie. Lazy Gut Island, Deer Isle; Bourque and Weddle 1995). The earliest glimpse of Maine's inland fsh assemblage comes from the 7,0006,500 B.P. Sharrow habitation site at the confuence of the Piscataquis and Sebec Rivers in Milo, Maine in the middle Penobscot River watershed. This deeply stratifed site (3 m in depth) revealed burned bones of American eel, anadromous Atlantic salmon, brook trout, alewife, hornpout and minnow species (Cyprinidae sp.). This site correlates with a stick fsh weir at the inlet of Sebasticook Lake in ewport used to catch American eels, with the oldest extant weir sticks yielding radio-carbon dates of 5,800 B.P. (Robinson et al. 2009). As sea-level rose toward modern day levels after 5,000 B.P., non-submerged coastal habitation sites become much more common and their faunal remains reveal a fairly modern-looking fsh assemblage, including cod, sculpin, pollock, striped bass, founder, halibut, sturgeon, Atlantic salmon, alewives, tomcod and American shad (Robinson et al. 2009; Spiess and Lewis 2001). Faunal remains of hornpout and freshwater minnow and chub species at the 7,000 B.P. Sharrow site and in the native fsh species assemblage in the Belgrade Lakes suggests that colonization of inland central Maine watersheds by non-diadromous and marine relict fsh occurred early in Maine's post-glacial history, at least no later than 7,000 B.P. This is because the Belgrade Lakes are blocked to all in-migration of fsh from the Kennebec River by an impassable 40-foot waterfall at Cascades Gorge in Oakland near the outlet of Messalonskee Lake yet contain nearly identical native fresh 16

17 water assemblages as nearby lakes that were historically accessible via the ocean to fsh. Unless this waterfall at Cascades Gorge developed very recently, the only date at which purely freshwater fsh (ie. white sucker, hornpout) could gain access to the Belgrade Lakes was not long after the marine inundation of the Maine coast around 13,000 B.P. yet before the marine lowstand at 10,500 B.P. A similar pattern exists in the Androscoggin River at Great Falls in Lewiston and in the Kennebec at Caratunk Falls in Solon, which in historic times have only been passable by Atlantic salmon and American eel, but whose lakes and ponds above these falls contain the traditional native suite of freshwater fsh common to the lakes and waters below these falls.4 This post-glacial history is shown in archaeological faunal records and in the review of native central Maine fsh by Atkins and Foster (1867), both of which show a depauperate freshwater fsh assemblage in central Maine compared with regions south of the Wisconsinan glacial maxima at Long Island, ew ork. 5 While the tribe of diadromous fsh native to central Maine is fairly extensive, the number of purely freshwater native species is much more sparse: 4 The presence of native resident fish above naturally inaccessible falls in central Maine suggests several competing hypotheses: they gained access soon after marine inundation or these steep, impassable bedrock drops were so in-filled by glacially transported debris that they were passable and only later were scoured down to bedrock or there existed cross-watershed connections in earlier millenia which bypassed these falls but have now become infilled. 5 This depauperate fish assemblage is mirrored in the very low native species diversity of freshwater mussels, Unionidae, in Maine and ew England compared with areas below the Wisconsinan glacial maxima. See, e.g.: Cummings, K.S and C.A. Meyer Freshwater Mussels of the Midwest. Illinois atural History Survey, Manual Five. Champaign, Ilinois. The dominance of diadromous fish in Maine is further shown in that many of the freshwater mussel species native to Maine require diadromous fish species as larval hosts; mussel species diversity in Maine falls off sharply in watersheds inaccessible to diadromous fish; and diversity is highest in watersheds were diadromous fish were historically abundant (ie. lower Kennebec, Sebasticook, St. Georges, lower Penobscot). 17

18 Table III: Degree of Diadromy in Fish Species ative to Central Maine Species American eel Atlantic sturgeon Shortnosed sturgeon American shad Blueback herring Striped bass Tomcod Mummichog Alewife Sea Lamprey Atlantic salmon Rainbow smelt inespine stickleback Brook trout White perch ellow perch Banded killifsh White sucker Hornpout Pumpkinseed Fallfsh Blacknose & redbelly dace Freshwater sculpin Burbot (cusk) Always Diadromous Mostly Diadromous Mostly Freshwater Always Freshwater Marine Relict otes: Freshwater ('landlocked') Atlantic salmon are native to only four lakes in the United States, all in Maine, but have been extensively stocked elsewhere; freshwater rainbow smelt are native to at least several dozen lakes in Maine but have been extensively stocked elsewhere. Despite their colloquial names, white perch and yellow perch are in entirely separate families; the white perch being a close cousin to the striped bass, the yellow perch a member of the true perch family (ie. walleye, sauger, darters). ellow perch have a diadromous ancestry in orth America but are now almost wholly freshwater fsh (Victoria et al. 1992). In Maine, native white perch and banded killifsh are commonly found in wholly freshwater populations but also exist in brackish estuaries with access to freshwater. Burbot (cusk) and sculpins are true marine 'relicts' in that they only have wholly freshwater and wholly marine populations but lack any historic, intermediate diadromous phase. They most likely arrived in Maine lakes during the post-glacial period of maximum marine inundation, ie. 13,000 B.P. 18

19 Historic Observations of Fish in the Cobbosseecontee Watershed One of the earliest direct observations of the fsheries of Cobbosseecontee Stream is from a manuscript of Henry S. Dearborn of Gardiner (b. 1783), who wrote: "Major Seth Gray built the frst wharf and Gen. Dearborn established the frst ferry in He was accustomed, as were others, to draw a seine around the mouth of Cobbossee and incredible numbers of shad, herring, salmon and sturgeon were taken every spring." J.W. Hanson (1852) wrote of early Gardiner residents that, "Jonathan Winslow used to relate that he captured 16 noble salmon one Sunday before breakfast." In the State of Maine's frst Fisheries Commissioners Report (1867), Charles Atkins and athan Foster provide valuable insights to the aboriginal and existing assemblage of the upper Cobbosseecontee watershed, ie. 50 years after construction of the Gardiner dams. At this time, they stated only one non-native fsh species, the chain pickerel (Esox niger), had been introduced to the Cobbosseecontee watershed. ative, glacially relict, non-anadromous rainbow smelt were native to Cochnewagon Pond in Monmouth. Atkins and Foster state at p. 90: "In Monmouth they run into some very small rills that lead into Cochnewagon Pond, and are dipped out in considerable quantities. In May, 1867, after it was supposed they were all gone, a fresh run occurred, that yielded thirty barrels. In quality the fresh water smelts are fully equal to those from the tide waters. Those from Monmouth have been placed side by side with smelts from Damariscotta, and received the preference." Aside from these non-anadromous rainbow smelt and extirpated anadromous Atlantic salmon, the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) appears to have been the dominant, native resident salmonid of the middle and upper watershed. Togue were unknown. Atkins and Foster state at p. 87: "There is a brook running through the village of Manchester Forks, where each year quite a number of trout, weighing from two to four pounds, are taken as they come up to spawn. A pair has sometimes been seen together in the brook, and frightened under the bank, when it is only necessary to reach the hand under and take them unresistingly out." This spawning brook described by Atkins can be located by aerial and feld mapping as at the northeastern end of Cobbosseecontee Lake at the junction of U.S. Route 202 and Route 17 in the center of Manchester and fows through the Augusta Country Club. The large size of the brook trout (2-4 lbs.) indicates they were lake dwelling brook trout seeking spawning habitat; which would mean they originated from Cobbosseecontee Lake. This brief description in Atkins is the only known historic (ie. pre-stocking) eyewitness record of native brook trout behavior in the Cobbosseecontee watershed. 19

20 Atkins and Foster describe the white perch (Morone americana) as a native resident fsh of the entire Cobbosseecontee watershed, stating at 92: "It inhabits, generally, those lakes and ponds emptying into the Kennebec as far north as Skowhegan, those tributary to the Penobscot still farther into the intervening country, and the St. Croix, with the intervening country. This is supposed to be identical with the white perch that comes into the rivers in the spring with the alewives, and it is an interesting question whether it is naturally a salt water species which has strayed into the fresh waters and lost the instinct which should guide its return, or whether it was originally equally ftted to live in salt or freshwater. Some of the lakes in which it abounds have never been accessible to fsh coming from the sea during the present age of the world. As an instance may be mentioned the Belgrade lakes. We know very little with regard to the reproduction of this species. Ripe males have, however, been found in the Kennebec River in June. In the spring of the year white perch approach the shores, and run into the mouths of many streams. At other seasons they constantly inhabit the deeper water, where they are gregarious to a greater extent than the yellow perch, being rarely caught by fshing from shore. It is to be presumed, then, that they are far less destructive to small fsh than the pickerel and yellow perch, which frequent the shores. In July their food is found to consist mostly of larvae of insects, many larvae or pupae of the dragon fy, not a few small crustaceans, and rarely a small fsh." The frst introduction of a non-native fsh to the Cobbossee watershed occurred in the 1818 and was the chain pickerel. Atkins and Foster state at p : "We have a succinct account of the introduction of pickerel to the waters of the Cobbossee Contee from Dr. James Cochrane of Monmouth. It seems that in 1817 or 1818 they were brought from the Great Androscoggin Pond [Androscoggin Lake in Wayne] and placed in Winthrop south pond -now known as Anebescook lake. From this they were transferred to other parts of that system of lakes, until they have reached nearly every part of it. It appears that about 1823 or 1824 they were also introduced into the Cobbossee stream above Gardiner from ehumkeag pond, east of the Kennebec -(see Mr. Boardman's article on Kennebec county in Agricultural Report for 1865, page 158). Of the results Dr. Cochrane says: 'Previous to their introduction white perch and trout were abundant in the ponds, now the perch are less abundant and the trout nearly destroyed." In the Belgrade lakes the same thing occurred later; it is said to be twenty years since the pickerel were frst introduced, but they have already become more numerous than the trout, and the latter becoming very scarce.... Williamson says: 'This species of fsh was frst brought to Penobscot county in 1819, and put into Davis Pond in Eddington, where they have increased surprisingly, but they devour the white perch, which is of as much or more value, and their immigration has not received much welcome.' Pickerel were unknown to the upper Penobscot previous to It is worthy of note that in all these cases the pickerel have increased rapidly. Dr. Cochrane says that eight pickerel were put into Cochnewagan Pond in 1825, and in 1833 they had increased to such an extent that he was able to catch a handsome string of them, averaging three pounds in weight." At the time of Atkins and Foster's report, black bass (ie. smallmouth and largemouth bass) had not been introduced in Maine. On the topic of smallmouth bass they state at p. 155: 20

21 "It is a very common species in all of the Canadian lakes, except Superior, and on the St. Lawrence river, Lake Champlain and its tributaries. It is also found in several localities in the interior of ew ork, and has been introduced into some of the waters of Connecticut, Massachusetts and ew Hampshire. From Mr. S.T. Tisdale of East Wareham, Massachusetts, we have the following: "They were introduced to the waters of this region by myself, in 1850, '51 and '52, to the extent of some two hundred, with which I stocked some in ponds in this vicinity. They were procured at Saratoga lake,.., and brought here.... We advise that legislation should forbid the introduction of pickerel into any waters where they do not now exist. The same prohibition should rest against sunfsh and yellow perch, and the indiscriminate introduction of black bass should not be permitted." Subsequent deliberate introductions in the early 20th century included the smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Sebago Lake 'landlocked' Atlantic salmon were deliberately introduced to Cobbosseecontee Lake c. 1890, and for a short time produced fsh up in the 10 pound range. 6 Several non-native minnow species (ie. golden shiner) have been inadvertently introduced from anglers' bait buckets in the 20th century. For much of the period since World War II, the MDIFW has annually introduced non-native brown trout to lakes and ponds in the watershed to create a 'two-story' coldwater and warmwater recreational fshery anglers. orthern pike were illegally stocked in the watershed during the mid 1990s, most likely from Sabbattus Pond and/or the Belgrade Lakes. Table IV: MDIFW Fish Species Data for Major Ponds in the Cobbossee Watershed Maranacook Lake: Brown trout, lake trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, hornpout, rainbow smelt, eel, white sucker, banded killifsh, freshwater sculpin, golden shiner, pumpkinseed, redbreast sunfsh. Upper and Lower arrows Pond: Lake trout, brook trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, hornpout, rainbow smelt, eel, white sucker, golden shiner, fallfsh, pumpkinseed, freshwater sculpin. ote in MDIFW report (1982): "Finally, it should be noted that water quality has deteriorated somewhat since the pond was originally surveyed in Recently, in some years low dissolved oxygen concentrations have been observed in the deepest part of the lake in the summer. While this water quality problem has not yet affected a large enough portion of the lake to harm game fsh directly, the decline in water quality that has been observed should be regarded as a warning that Lower arrows Pond is not immune to the effects of 'progress.'" Torsey Pond: Smallmouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, hornpout, eel, white sucker, golden shiner, pumpkinseed, yellowbelly sunfsh. Annabessacook Lake: Brown trout, brook trout, rainbow smelt, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, golden shiner, white sucker, hornpout, redbreast sunfsh, 6 See: Kennebec Journal, July 20, 1917: "George F. Winfeld of Bretton Hall, ew ork, under the guidance of John Merrill, made a good catch early Wednesday morning at Cobbosseecontee, his prizes being a nine-pound salmon 30 inches long, and another salmon which measured 26 inches in length and weighed 7 3/4 pounds." 21

22 pumpkinseed sunfsh, eel, northern pike. Cobbosseecontee Lake: Brown trout, brook trout, rainbow smelt, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, northern pike, chain pickerel, golden shiner, emerald shiner, rudd, white sucker, hornpout, banded killifsh, fourspine stickleback, redbreast sunfsh, pumpkinseed sunfsh, eel. Cochnewagon Pond: Brown trout, rainbow smelt, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, golden shiner, hornpout, redbreast sunfsh, pumpkinseed, eel. Wilson Pond: Brown trout, rainbow smelt, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, golden shiner, hornpout, redbreast sunfsh, pumpkinseed, eel, northern pike. Berry and Dexter Ponds: Smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, minnows, white sucker, hornpout, pumpkinseed, eel. Pleasant Pond: Brown trout, brook trout, rainbow smelt, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, golden shiner, white sucker, hornpout, pumpkinseed, black crappie, eel, anadromous alewife. ote in MDIFW report: "Pleasant Pond once provided an excellent smallmouth bass fshery but siltation of the rock gravel shores combined with the explosive growth of aquatic vegetation have severely affected the smallmouth bass population. Conversely, the abundant weedy areas is considered ideal habitat for largemouth bass and pickerel. The excellent largemouth bass fshery can be attributed to the habitat." Sand Pond (Tacoma Lakes chain): Brown trout, brook trout, rainbow smelt, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, golden shiner, white sucker, hornpout, redbreast sunfsh, pumpkinseed, slimy sculpin, eel. ote in MDIFW report: "Good catches of browns and brookies are common, as the fshery is supported by an abundant smelt population. The smelt population has not gone unnoticed by anglers and bait dealers and has sustained a popular fshery since the late 1970s." Jimmy Pond: Brook trout, splake, rainbow smelt, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, yellow perch, chain pickerel, golden shiner, white sucker, hornpout, banded killifsh, pumpkinseed, eel. Based upon available historic data, species listed in the MDIFW lake and pond surveys that are non-native include brown trout, lake trout, splake, chain pickerel, northern pike, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, golden shiner, black crappie. ative species are brook trout, white perch, yellow perch, pumpkinseed, hornpout, American eel, sculpin, rainbow smelt, banded killifsh, fallfsh and fourspine stickleback. Equivocal are redbreasted sunfsh and yellowbreasted sunfsh. Rainbow smelt are only confrmed as native to Cochnewagon Pond (Atkins & Foster 1867) but may have naturally inhabited other ponds in the watershed and were not reported. Because MDIFW routinely introduced rainbow smelt to 'suitable' lakes throughout Maine during the 20th century as forage for introduced and native 22

23 salmonids, many or most of the extant rainbow smelt populations in the watershed may be more properly characterized as 'introduced and naturalized' (Pellerin 2001). Brook trout were likely native to nearly all of the lakes and ponds in the watershed in numbers proportional to available summer habitat (ie. well oxygenated deepwater habitat) and riverine or lake shoal spawning habitat, as noted in Atkins & Foster (1867) for the spawning brook at the north end of Cobbosseecontee Lake in Manchester. Of all native extant species, brook trout are perhaps most vulnerable to watershed disturbances (ie. land clearing, pollution discharge, dam building, impounding of riverine spawning habitat). MDIFW survey data does not distinguish between native brook trout populations, self-sustaining naturalized brook trout populations and those maintained wholly by annual stockings of hatchery-reared individuals. Fish species diversity in brook and stream habitat in the watershed is not included in MDIFW survey data. MDIFW lake and pond survey notes (dating from the 1940s to present) document the effect of direct pollutant discharge to the lakes and ponds and the watershed in the 20th century as well as non-point source pollution from development in the latter half of the 20th century, as confrmed by CWD data from 1971-present. A consistent theme is a reduction in the areal expanse of highly oxygenated water in the deeper portions of the watershed's lakes and ponds during the summer, which has a direct effect on the ability of the pond to support coldwater species (ie. trout, smelt, sculpins). Another effect noted is a dramatic increase in shoreline siltation and weed growth in Pleasant Pond in the 1940-present era which MDIFW states caused a major population shift from smallmouth bass to largemouth bass and pickerel. A 'check' on native species assemblage is that all of the lakes and ponds in the MDIFW surveys contain a consistent suite of species: ie. white perch, yellow perch, pumpkinseed, hornpout, white sucker and American eel. Sculpin are noted in three of the deepest lakes (Maranacook, lower arrows Pond, Sand Pond), but are absent from all others. Slimy sculpin is specifcally identifed from Sandy Pond while 'freshwater sculpin' are noted from Maranacook and lower arrows. Banded killifsh are noted in Maranacook, Cobbossee Lake and Jimmy Pond, but may have evaded or been omitted from identifcation in other waters (ie. Annabessacook, which should have them since it lies directly between Maranacook and Cobbosseecontee). Fallfsh are only noted from arrows Ponds. Fourspine stickleback are only noted from Cobbosseecontee Lake. 23